NBA Slam Dunk Contest 2025: Top Contenders, Predictions for Exciting Event
Mac McClung will try to make history at the 2025 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
The G-League player is going for the first-ever three-peat in the event, which began in 1984.
Only Nate Robinson has won the Slam Dunk Contest on three occasions, but he only won two of his titles in consecutive years.
McClung will be challenged by three young players from the NBA, including a pair of rookies.
Chicago’s Matas Buzelis, San Antonio’s Stephon Castle and Milwaukee’s Andre Jackson Jr. will try to dethrone McClung and prevent history from happening.
Top Contenders<br>
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Mac McClung has to be viewed as the favorite to win his third straight Slam Dunk Contest because of his experience in the event.
The G-League guard captured his first title in 2023 as a member of the Philadelphia organization. He will represent the Osceola Magic for the second straight year.
McClung put up scores of 99.8 and 100 across two rounds in 2023 and totaled scores of 97.4 and 98.8 in 2024.
Buzelis, Castle and Jackson are all participating in their first Slam Dunk contests.
Buzelis, the No. 11 overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft, has only started to flex his skill with the Chicago Bulls after they traded away Zach LaVine.
Castle is averaging 12.7 points per game and is in contention for Rookie of the Year. The 2024 No. 4 pick has more of an in-game dunking sample size to go off compared to Buzelis and Jackson.
Jackson only plays about 15-17 minutes per night in Milwaukee and is known more for his defense than any offensive attributes.
The 2023 second-round pick could use the Slam Dunk Contest as a chance to flex his offensive skills, and that might make him the dark horse to win the event.
Predictions
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McClung is the established contest dunker among Saturday’s four-person field.
He has to be considered the favorite to win because he found a way to come up with new dunks in between in his first two wins.
The G-League player knows the creativity and dunking style that will win over the judges in San Francisco.
Any of the three challengers could pull off the surprise, but for now McClung is the favorite because he’s been there, done that and has the trophies to show for it.
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